[Newsletter] Why locals love this ancient tree bridge

▶︎ Watch the new video → https://youtu.be/w0vcA6N7eCg

I found something unique and mostly unknown in a small town called Kaibara, Japan: an ancient tree beside a river that grew a single gigantic root across the river to the opposite bank.

So I went to see it for myself. And I also, as usual, was surprised by how much other stuff there was to see in the town.

The tree is called "kinonebashi", which means tree root bridge. The tree is, by many accounts, about a thousand years old. The big root growing sideways across the water features on posters, paintings, and signs around town.

It was at one time even used by people actually crossing the river, to get to the large hilltop shrine that is itself a thousand years old. You're not allowed to walk on the tree root now, but they do let people get surprisingly close.

In this video I wander the town (and get lost) before finding the place where the tree is supposed to be. And I try to experience the shrine correctly, and mess it up spectacularly. Fortunately, the only witness to my ineptness was Hachiman, the god of war.

And now, you, watching the video.

The tree is featured on the cover of a tourist map I picked up in Kaibara:

A note about the song

In the extended version of this video, a local tells me about a 1920s-era song called "Ryoshū", whose author was inspired by his time in Kaibara. In that video I play some of a 1928 recording of it and tell the story.

Well, since creating this video, I got some new information about the song and its writer: the lyrics are about pining for a fondly-remembered place – home, maybe – while traveling.

The author of the song was from Kumamoto, but was living in Niigata. Those are far away from each other. While the author had indeed lived for a brief time in Kaibara, there is no evidence that he was writing about Kaibara.

It seems more plausible that he was writing about Kumamoto. However, some in Kaibara believe that the imagery in the lyrics could only be about Kaibara.

Given that the story of the haiku poem (also in the extended video) turns out to be apocryphal, I don't quite know what to think about the song "Ryoshū". It may be Kaibara hoping against hope that its claims to fame are accurate.

In the end, both are good stories, and the town is indeed an immensely pleasant place to be. And there is indeed genuine, true history all around it.

And, above all for me, that weird twisty tree. Such an odd town symbol, but I love it.

▶ TRAVEL LOVERS, PARTNERS, AND MASTERS: Watch the extended 30-minute ad-free version, including the story of Nagayamon gate from 1714, my impromptu guided tour around Kaibara, the story of a legendary 6-year-old haiku poet from the town, a nationally popular 1920s-era song said to be inspired by Kaibara, and my stroll around the quiet residential streets of the town and its compelling mix of buildings and decorations → https://patreon.com/posts/140956422

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Everywhere is worth exploring!

–Jeremy